3 newer or Lent-only fish fries

The Lenten cod fish fry at Ryan Braun's Graffito, 102 N. Water St., is served with fries or potato pancakes with applesauce, coleslaw and tartar sauce, all made in-house. Credit: Joe Laedtke/Ryan Braun's Graffito

Burke's Irish Castle

The renovated bar that was Derry Hegarty's Irish Pub looks refreshed, from the windows to the menu.

A full menu of appetizers, sandwiches and entrées was launched in January, with three fish fry options on Fridays.

The perch fry ($13) was remarkable - large fillets of flaky, white fish in a satisfyingly crunchy panko-crumb crust. On the side: seasoned waffle fries, sauce spiced with the hot sauce sriracha and a light and leafy slaw made with napa cabbage and green peppers.

The more traditional pub fry's centerpiece was thick-cut cod ($10), moist and flaky in the house beer batter. It's served with waffle fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce with roasted garlic.

A third is gluten-free: Tilapia ($12) is prepared in a separate fryer, in a thin cornmeal batter (seltzer water is substituted for beer, which contains gluten).

Other fish options on the regular menu include ever-changing fish steamed in parchment paper (market price) and blackened salmon cakes ($14) with a frizzle of fried sweet potato and poblano creamed corn.

Insider tip: Early guests might be able to finagle potato pancakes with their fish fries; once it gets busy, that's it for the night - the kitchen wouldn't be able to keep up with the orders on its flat-top grill.

Ryan Braun's Graffito

Graffito usually conjures thoughts of Italian fare, but on Fridays in Lent, it serves up a cod fish fry ($13) with everything but the bread made in house, including the applesauce for potato pancakes.

You probably could count on one hand the number of fish fry spots that still make their applesauce instead of pouring it from a jar, but chef Joe McCormick said it's made in less than 30 minutes: apples, white wine, just a bit of cinnamon stick, some cooking time and a little puréeing with a hand blender, done.

Besides thick-cut cod in beer batter, the plate holds hand-cut, twice-fried french fries or potato pancakes - fried crisp, but they've got a true potato flavor and seem light, with minimal flour and the potatoes' own starch helping to hold them together. Very lightly dressed coleslaw - red and green cabbage with carrot - has a touch of horseradish and dill; the tartar sauce, part rémoulade, is lighter as well.

Other fish dishes on the menu include salmon with beurre blanc and fennel tapenade ($25) and lobster risotto ($19).

Twisted Fisherman Crab Shack

This ultracasual restaurant in a former warehouse mostly is about the seafood, patterning itself after crab shacks on America's coasts.

For Lent, it will serve its usual Friday perch fry Monday to Saturday, said owner Russ Davis, who also operates the fish fries at Lakefront Brewery's Palm Garden and at Hubbard Park Lodge in Shorewood.

Walleye lovers: The restaurant will offer its walleye as a daily special as often as possible during Lent, not just on Fridays.

The substantial pan-fried walleye fillet ($18.95), lightly coated in seasoned flour, was exceptional: sweet, moist and fresh. It's served with what the restaurant calls its "beer blanc," a butter sauce with beer instead of white wine.

Like the fish fry, it comes with two sides. Coarse-cut coleslaw with crisp, lightly sweet apple makes such a good combination, I wondered why I'd never had it before. Mac and cheese is pure comfort; mashed potatoes with Wisconsin cheddar are dense but the real thing. Fries were crisp and hot; spiced rum-glazed carrots needed more cooking time, though - they were crisp as well.

The perch fry ($13.95) is an ample portion; the fillets themselves are thin, typical of perch at many fish fries. The flour-dredged fillets were done well, though. Cod also is available as a special.

There are other fish options aplenty: Try the Wisconsin smoked trout spread ($7) as an appetizer, or mussels steamed in white wine, garlic and butter ($8), served with bread to mop up the wine and juices. Dungeness crab ($24.95 for two clusters) was sweet and moist; drawn butter was provided but not needed.

- Carol Deptolla

About Carol Deptolla

Carol Deptolla is the Journal Sentinel dining critic. She also reports on restaurants, bars and other food- and drink-related businesses.